Chessmetric estimates his highest ever ratting to have been 2700 at the end of 1950, placing him at #12 in the world. His rating then began falling rapidly and by the end of 1955, he had dropped 200 points. He dies in Kiev in 1959 of polycythemia, a rare, slow growing blood cancer.
With polycythemia the bone marrow produces too many red blood cells, thickening the blood and disrupting its normal flow. Many people do not experience any symptoms initially. When symptoms do occur they can vary. Fatigue and weakness with persistent lack of energy and general tiredness, frequent headaches, dizziness, feeling faint, double or blurred vision, ringing in the ears and shortness of breath. particularly when lying down, are all symptoms. Tiday there is still no cure, but it can be treated.
Lipnitsky was a two-time Ukrainian champion (1949, 1956). He was a childhood companion and rival of David Bronstein. During World War II Lipnitsky served in the Soviet Red Army, fought in the Battle of Stalingrad,and was decorated four times. After the War he had some good results, but in later years,his play was affected by poor health.
Lipinsky was the author of the highly influential biik Questions of Modern Chess Theory. It was originally published in Russian in the Soviet Union in 1956. An updated English translated was published in 2008. It’s still worth reading today!
[Event "USSR Champ Final, Moscow"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1950.12.11"]
[Round ""]
[White "Isaac Lipnitsky"]
[Black "Efim Geller"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E71"]
[Annotator "Stockfish/Lipnitsky"]
[PlyCount "141"]
[EventDate "1950.11.12"]
[EventType ""]
[EventRounds ""]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "URS-ch"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
{E71: King's Indian} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 O-O 5. Be3 d6 6. h3 e5 {At the time this game was played the Soviet players were just beginning to experiment with the King's Indian. White's main options are 7.d5 and 7.Nf3.} 7. d5 {In answer to this black generally plays 7...a5 and then ...Nbd7-c5. Here, instead, black plays to open the c-file which is to white's advantage.} c6 8. Bd3 Na6 9. Nge2 cxd5 10. cxd5 Nc5 {White is slightly better.} 11. Bc2 Nh5 (11... a5 {is more accurate.} 12. O-O Bd7 13. a3 a4 14. Ng3 b5 {with equal chances. Moroni,L (2560)-Prokofiev,V (2464) Prague 2026}) 12. O-O {More precise was 12.Qd2, preventing a later ...Qh4} (12. Qd2 Qh4 $2 13. Bg5) 12... h6 {This is weakening. 12...Bd7 followed by ...f5 would have given him active play.} (12... Qh4 {is premature because after} 13. Qd2 {The Q has to retreat.} Qe7 14. g4 Nf6 15. b4 {White has the advantage.}) 13. Rc1 {White's plan is to take the initiative on the Q-side where he has an advantage in space, but this is a wasted move because later the R will have to return to a1. His best move was still Qd2.} a5 14. Kh2 Bd7 15. a4 {To prevent ...b5} (15. Bxc5 {was his best move. After} dxc5 16. Ba4 c4 17. Bxd7 Qxd7 18. a4 {White is clearly better.}) 15... Kh7 {Probably th best move is 15...Rc8/ The move played practically eliminates any chance of playing ...f5 because of the B on c2.} (15... f5 {It should probably be pointed out that in such positions black frequently plays this advance, but here the advance would favor white and so Geller has not played it.} 16. Bxc5 dxc5 17. Ng1 Qf6 18. Qe2 {followed by Qc4 with the better game.}) 16. Qd2 Rc8 17. Ra1 {White has two pieces tied to the defense of his a4-pawn. By returning his rook to al he not only over-protects this pawn but also prepares to bring the rook into the action via the third rank.} Qh4 18. Ra3 {A clever move that will prove quite useful! In Lipnitsky's celebrated Sovier classic Questions of Modern Chess Theory he explains, "Up to now both sides have been strengthening their positions without undertaking any resolute action, but soon the first clash Will inevitably occur, and then the placing of the rook on a3 will prove very much to the point. Incidentally this move stops the knight on c5 from forking on 133, which would be possible in some lines."} b6 19. Ng1 {"White wants to drive the black Q away with g2-g3, and to do this he must defend h3. In addition, by freeing the e2 square, he is thinking of playing Bc2-d1-e2-b5 to exchange the light-squared Bs. This would enable him to begin gradually conquering the key points on the Q-side and attacking the Ps on b6 and d6...while black has been having difficulty forming a convenient plan that would not involve ...f5, white's play on the Q-side is clear. It does not suit Geller's temperament to wait patiently while his opponent gets on with his plans, so he resorts to the move f7-f5 from which he has been refraining for so long." Lipnitsky} f5 $1 {Lipnitsky's comments notwithstanding, now is the time to play this as it results in black gaining full equality.} 20. g3 Qe7 21. exf5 Bxf5 (21... gxf5 {is also playable.} 22. Qe2 Qe8 23. Nf3 e4 24. Nd2 Be5 {with equal chances.}) 22. Nge2 Bxc2 {According yo Lipnitsky, "Black need not have hurried to make this exchange, as it only helps white to gain control of the light squares." However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Geller's move and the chances are equa;ll.} 23. Qxc2 Nf6 {"It was here that black should have tried to exploit the weakness of d3 and f3 by playing 23...e4, because with his next move white takes measures against that thrust." Lipnitsky. Again, Geller's move is perfevtly acceptable/} (23... e4 24. Bxc5 Rxc5 25. Qxe4 Qxe4 26. Nxe4 Rxd5 {has simplified into equality which may be why Geller did not go for it...his style was to keep things complicated.}) 24. f3 Qf7 {"Black diverts the white Q from the b1-h7 diagonal. Once again, some highly intricate play would result from 24...e4...It should be noted that black was already in time trouble." Lipnitsky} (24... e4 25. Bxc5 Rxc5 26. Nf4 Rc4 27. Ne6 {anf both 27...Nxd5 and 27...Rf7 yield equal chances.}) 25. Qd2 g5 26. g4 {"An important juncture. White manages to seize the e4-square, which opens up the prospect of later reaching a favourable endgame with a N on e4 versus the B on g7." Lipnitsky} Ng8 {Black is transferring thr N to g6, but in the process misses the move that maintains the balance.} (26... e4 $1 27. f4 Nfd7 28. Ng3 gxf4 29. Bxf4 Qg6 30. Nf5 Ne5 {with complications galore.}) 27. Ng3 Ne7 28. Bxc5 bxc5 29. Nge4 Rb8 {Black is not afraid Of 30,Nxd5} 30. Rf2 {Now capturing on d6 is a threat.} (30. Nxd6 Qf4+ 31. Qxf4 Rxb2+ 32. Rf2 Rxf2+ 33. Kg3 exf4+ 34. Kxf2 Rb8 {with equal chances.}) 30... Rfd8 31. Ra1 Qf4+ 32. Qxf4 {"In view of black's potential maneuver ...Ne7-g6-h4, white cannot avoid this capture which opens the diagonal of the black B." Lipnitsky} exf4 33. Re1 {Now the position is one of complete equality and bith players begin jockeying fot posotion.} Ng6 34. Nb5 $1 Ne5 35. Rd1 Rb6 36. b3 Kg6 37. Kg2 Bf8 {"In acute time trouble Geller probably could not work out all the variations following the 37...c4." Lipnitsky} (37... c4 38. bxc4 Nxc4 39. Rc1 Ne3+ {with equal chances.}) 38. Rc2 Bg7 $2 {After this Geller should have found himself in serious trouble.} (38... Re8 39. Rdd2 Nd7 40. Re2 Re5 {Neither side seems to be able to make progress.}) 39. Kf2 $2 {Missing a winning tactical shot. Funny thing...Lipnitsky was silent hereabouts!} (39. Nexd6 Rdxd6 40. Nxd6 Rxd6 41. Rxc5 {and the passed d-Pawn yields a win.}) 39... Bf8 {Correcting his mistake.} 40. Kg2 Re8 41. Rc3 {"An advantage for white has taken shape, based on the weakness of black Ps on a5 and d6, and also the bad black B. If two Rs and a N could be removed from each player's army, black would have a completely lost endgame. In many variations a march by the white K from d3, along one of the routes d3-c4-b5 or d3-e4-f5, would be decisive." Lipmitsky. Stockfish disagrees evaluating the position at 0.00 which does not mean the position is drawn only that the chances are equal. However, as someone once said, some pigs are more equal than others, and the same thing can be said of chess positions.} Nf7 42. Rd2 {"If black were now to sacrifice the exchange on e4, so as to fortify himself by bringing the B to e5, white would win after carrying out a K-side brcakthrough with h3-h4." Lipmitsky} Ne5 (42... Rxe4 $3 {Again, Stockfish disagrees.} 43. fxe4 Bg7 44. Rf3 h5 45. gxh5+ Kxh5 {and there is no breakthrough possible.}) 43. Re2 Nf7 $1 {"Black is extremely restricted in his maneuvres. He not only has to look after his P on d6, he also needs to guard against a potential sacrifice on that square followed by a capture on e5 (should the black rook have moved away from c8). He must also prevent Qc4-d2-c4!." Lipmitsky} 44. Rcc2 Bg7 45. Kf1 Re5 {"Black is unable to avoid a R exchange after the Non e4 moves away." Lipnitsky} 46. Nec3 Rxe2 47. Nxe2 {[%mdl 32]} Rb7 48. Nc1 Re7 {After this black is is real danger.} (48... Bd4 {won't allop white to male any progress as he cannot safely take the B.} 49. Nxd4 cxd4 50. Rd2 Ne5 51. Rxd4 Nxf3 52. Rd3 Ne5 {and black is winning.}) 49. Re2 Ne5 {"Of course another R exchange would only hasten black's defeat. But then the game was no longer to be saved anyway." Lipnitsky} (49... Rxe2 50. Kxe2 Bf6 51. Nd3 Be7 52. Na7 Bd8 53. Nc6 Kf6 54. Nb2 Bc7 55. Nc4 {wins}) 50. Re4 $2 {"Clearly 50.Nxd6 would allow black counterplay." Lipnitsky} (50. Nxd6 Rd7 51. Nf5 Kf6 52. d6 Bf8 {and black has equalized.}) (50. Nd3 {results in a winning ending for white after} Kf6 51. Nxe5 dxe5 52. Nd6 Bf8 53. Rd2 Ra7 54. Nc4 Rd7 55. Nxa5) 50... Rd7 51. Ke2 Bf6 $2 {Black can hold his position after 51...Rd8} 52. Nd3 $18 h5 53. Nxe5+ Bxe5 {[%mdl 4096] As Lipnitsky will demonstrate, this ending is won for white.} 54. Kd3 hxg4 55. hxg4 Re7 56. Re2 Rd7 57. Rh2 {"As white wants to transfer his Nto c4, he now needs to stop the black R froin seizing the h-file." Lipnitsky} Rb7 58. Kc2 Re7 59. Na3 Bd4 60. Nc4 Re1 61. Nxd6 Re3 62. Ne4 Rxf3 63. d6 {[%mdl 32]} c4 64. bxc4 {[%mdl 32]} Re3 65. d7 Bb6 66. c5 Bc7 67. Nd6 Re7 68. Rh6+ $3 $146 {[%mdl 512]} Kxh6 69. Nf5+ Kg6 70. Nxe7+ Kf7 71. Nc6 {Black resigned. A very instructive game by Lipnitsky.} 1-0
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